NHL roundup: Canucks beat Wild to take series lead

Brock Boeser and Elias Petterson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for his first postseason shutout, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five qualifier series Thursday in Edmonton, Canada.

Antoine Roussel and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, who outlasted the Wild in another penalty-filled, extra-testy matchup and moved within one game of advancing to the first round in their first appearance in the playoffs since 2015.

The teams played 33:49 without scoring, until Boeser got Vancouver going late in the second period with a falling-down backhander off the ricochet from Pettersson’s shot. Boeser, a native of Minnesota who grew up about 20 miles from the Wild’s arena, has three points in three games.

Roussel made it 2-0 just 2:18 into the third by beating Brad Hunt on a breakaway and flipping the puck over Wild goalie Alex Stalock’s left shoulder with a backhand shot.

Flyer 3, Capitals 1

Scott Laughton had two goals and an assist to help Philadelphia beat Washington at Toronto.

Travis Sanheim also scored and Brian Elliott stopped 16 shots to keep the Flyers rolling as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Flyers won nine straight games before losing the final one before the COVID-19 shutdown. The Flyers have resumed the season with wins over Boston and the Capitals in the NHL’s playoff seeding round and can’t finish any worse than second in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers play Tampa Bay on Saturday. The winner will earn the top seed in the East.

Laughton gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period after capitalizing on a turnover, beating Braden Holtby. Laughton scored again to make it 3-0 in the third.

Kevin Hayes had three assists for the Flyers for his first career three-point playoff game, and Travis Konecny had two assists.

Golden Knights 6, Blues 4

Mark Stone scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with under 7 minutes left, and Vegas took a big step toward clinching the top seed in the Western Conference by beating St. Louis in Edmonton.

Vegas would be the West’s No. 1 seed with a win against Colorado on Saturday. Despite leading the conference when the NHL season was shut down in March, defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis can finish no higher than third and needs to beat Dallas on Sunday to avoid the No. 4 seed.

The Golden Knights dominated the Blues in each team’s second round-robin game, outshooting them 38-17. St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington was sharp early and made 32 saves but wound up getting shelled.

Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore each scored twice for Vegas, while defenseman Zach Whitecloud and Stone added a goal each. Tuch also had an assist on Whitecloud’s goal.

Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3

Pierre-Luc Dubois got his third goal of the game 18:24 into overtime, finishing the Columbus comeback from three goals down to beat Toronto and take a 2-1 lead in their playoff qualifying series.

Dubois got the winner on a rush after Alexandre Texier stripped the puck from Toronto’s John Tavares.

The Blue Jackets rallied from from a 3-0 deficit midway through the second period, scoring twice in a 3 1/2 minute stretch midway through the third to tie it.

Seth Jones also scored for Columbus. Joonas Korpisalo gave up three Toronto goals and made 12 saves before he was chased in the second period. Elvis Merzlikins stopped all 21 shots he faced to put the Blue Jackets from advancing to the traditional 16-team first round.

Cody Ceci, William Nylander and Nicholas Robertson scored for the Maple Leafs, and Frederik Anderson had 39 saves.